Cypress Mountain

Cypress Mountain offers some of the best skiing in Vancouver, and one of Western Canada’s most respected Ski and Snowboard Schools. Cypress Mountain was the Official Freestyle Skiing (Aerials, Moguls & Ski Cross) and Snowboard (Half Pipe, Parellel Giant Slalom, and Snowboard Cross) Venue for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
Day or night, you’ll enjoy great conditions and a wide variety of runs for skiers of all levels. Snowboarders will love the awesome variety of Freeriding terrain, along with kickin parks and pipes all over the mountain.

With the most expansive terrain and the largest vertical rise on the North Shore of Vancouver, Cypress Mountain is Vancouver’s premier winter playground. Whether you ski or snowboard, spectacular views of downtown Vancouver, English Bay, Georgia Straight and Howe Sound are yours to enjoy on the two mountains at Cypress, Mt. Strachan and Black Mountain.

Cypress is recognized as the most popular cross country ski area in Canada, and can accommodate in excess of 2,000 cross country skiers per day. Cross Country skiing at Cypress Mountain is a unique experience for the whole family. Enjoy 19 kms of groomed trails – with 7 kms lit for night skiing – that wind through snow-covered lakes and snowy mountain forests, or experience adventure on snowshoes with over 10 kms of self-guided snowshoe trails.

At the SnowPlay area you can feel the thrill of sliding down trails in a snow tube, and let the tube tow do all the work getting you back up the hill.

The first skiers found their way to the North Shore mountains in the 1920s. These ski enthusiasts would take a ferry across Burrard Inlet and hike up the mountains to log cabins, many of which can still be found on Hollyburn Mountain. The area’s first ski run now serves as a cross-country and tubing area. Hollyburn Lodge was built in the early years, and is still used, offering a remarkable reminder of the mountain’s skiing heritage. The resort has been operating in its current form since the early 1970s.

Cypress Mountain is very proud to have hosted the Freestyle Moguls, Freestyle Skiing, Snowboard Halfpipe, Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom and Boardercross competitions for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter and Paralympic Games. To prepare for the games, many exciting developments transformed Cypress Mountain into a world-class winter recreation area, including the following improvements.

Snow Making
Cypress Mountain has 35 snow guns, 51 hydrant locations and a 22.7 million litre reservoir (5 million gallons). The state of the Art snowmaking system is designed to provide a minimum of 1 metre of cover on the skiing venues. Snow Making is on all Olympic venues, including Half Pipe (Lower Panorama Ski Run), SBX & SX (Fork Ski Run), PGS (previously Gully Ski Run), Aerials & Moguls. As well as on Panorama and Windjammer Ski Runs.

Cypress Mountain is located in the heart of Cypress Provincial Park in West Vancouver, 7.5 miles (12 km) off the Trans-Canada Highway 1, and only 26 minutes from the heart of Downtown Vancouver. From Downtown Vancouver by car, take the Lions Gate Bridge and follow the signs to Highway 1 (via Taylor Way). Continue west and take Exit 8 onto Cypress Bowl Road. Follow this 3-lane paved highway for 13 km (8 miles) for cross-country, snowshoeing and snow tubing, and a farther 2 km (1.3 miles) for downhill skiing.

Public Transit: Take Skytrain or bus to Waterfront Station, connecting via Seabus to the Cypress Mountain Shuttle Bus at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver.

Whether spending quality time in the halfpipe, or hitting sweet kickers and rails is your thing, the snowboard park has it all. Located under the Sunrise Quad chair, be sure to remember your helmet for what guarantees to be the best place on the North Shore for serious freestyle riding.

Feel the thrill of sliding down trails in a snow tube and let our tube tow do all the work getting you back up the hill. Sliders must be at least 48 inches tall for Tubing.
Tubing Tow accessing 6 chutes.
Up to 200 tubers can be accommodated.
Base area warming hut nearby.
Open daily with scheduled nights.NB: Height safety requires tubers to be a least 48 inches tall to ride the tubes.
Same facilities as for cross-country.Snow Sliding: For children under 6 years accompanied by an adult, and those too short for the Tube Park, Cypress offers a small sliding area. The gently sloping run has a 4-metre elevation drop over 25 metres, designed for children aged 3 to 5 to walk up and slide down on their own. Sliding Hours are 10am – 4pm daily, weather permitting. Bring your own sled.

Biographical Info

The Holiday Inn is one of Vancouver’s finest hotels, and North Vancouver’s premier hotel. Cradled beneath the city’s majestic North Shore mountains, and located only 20 minutes from Downtown Vancouver, the award-winning Holiday Inn & Suites North Vancouver is close to visitor attractions, a variety of restaurants, theatres, and conveniently located for outdoor adventures to Capilano Suspension Bridge, Grouse Mountain, Cypress Mountain, and Seymour Mountain. Amenities include an on-site restaurant, pub, spa, indoor pool, jacuzzi, and meeting and banquet facilities.